Everyday TV Viewers: 5 Cool Advantages of Interactive TV

TV viewers may be hearing the latest term to on-screen interaction, “second screen” or “interactive TV.” This isn’t having a second TV on in the room, or having touch-screen TV. But rather, it’s watching some of the extra content on your mobile phone or tablet, like an iPad.

If you’ve got a smartphone or tablet, and you haven’t tried Interactive TV yet, here are a few reasons why you should give it a try the next time you flip on the tube.

1. It will save you money.

The TV commercials on your second screen will be customized to your buying habits. By providing the advertiser with your email or snail mail address, any coupons, free samples and offers you receive after the show will save you money every day.

2. It will save you time.

Your viewer experience will be streamlined. If you have only 15 minutes to watch the news, you pick and choose the stories you want to see. At the same time, you can see your fellow viewers sentiment on particular stories, polling results and more.

3. Your opinion will count.

With interactive TV, everyones opinion counts. You have a voice. You will have the ability to reach a lot of viewers with your message. Your response can go on the air, or into an archive where other people can read it.

4. You can interact with other viewers, if you want to.

With interactive TV, you can be as proactive or reactive as you want to be, from the comfort of your second screen.

5. You can create your own customized, real-time, local news experience.

You can set it up so that your local news station just shows you the news around you. If you heard a gun shot six blocks from you, you will want to know the source of it right away or you might be the citizen journalist reporting it to your local news station. Its geo-tagged news that triggers and gives you real time responses and real time information based on your location.